Temporary Home by Aliyah Burke Page B

door while I’m there.” She answered his non-verbalised question.
    “Door won’t fit in your Tribeca.”
    “I know. I’ll have it delivered.” She wrote the measurements down on paper then shoved it in her pocket.
    “I’ll do it.”
    She blinked and shook her head in confusion. “Do what?”
    “Bring it for you. I have a truck.”
    “No, I can’t ask you to do that.”
    “You’re not. I have to finish up at Second Chances then I can go.”
    Roxi looked at him a short time before she walked to him. She slid her hands up his arms. Their gazes locked. “Okay, you want to help me. I’ll help you. Let’s go to Second Chances and we’ll stop at the store on the way home.”
    Home.
    There was that word again. He swallowed, unused to the emotions bombarding him.
    Her fingers danced along the back of his neck. “Unless you don’t want me in your truck.”
    Lust hit him. “I want you.” The words were deep and raspy. Didn’t make them any less true.
    Her eyes heated with passion. “Good.” She stepped back and walked off, crooking her finger at him.
    He willingly followed.
     
    * * * *
     
    Three hours later, he was under one of the sinks at Second Chances. Roxi was busy finishing up the painting. She’d been all smiles when the children arrived. The staff had got some as well. While Roxi never forced him into any conversation, she always made him feel included.
    “How’s it going?”
    His entire body stiffened at the sound of her voice. Willing his hard cock to give him a break, he replied, “Okay.”
    “Wonderful. I’m going to get the paint cleaned up and I’ll be back to help you.”
    She left and he craned his neck to watch her walk away. She never seemed to mind that his answers were so short and succinct. His body thrummed at the prospect of having her close again.
    True to her word, she returned shortly. He ogled her long, firm, jean-encased legs before she crouched and he could see her face.
    “What can I do?”
    He wriggled his way out from beneath the sink and sat. A grin tipped up the corner of his mouth. She had splatters of paint on her smooth skin as well as in her hair.
    “You’re smiling,” she said with feigned shock. “What’s so funny?”
    He was so pleased she didn’t seem offended that he may have been laughing at her.
    “You…” He circled a finger around his face.
    Dawning grew in her expression. “Paint on my face?”
    “And hair.”
    She sighed then shrugged. “I’m surprised I’m not wearing more, honestly.”
    “Like little freckles,” he said. Sam gave into his urge to touch her and played a short version of connect the dots with the paint splatters on her face.
    In half a heartbeat, his world narrowed to just the two of them. He stared in her eyes, the colour of rich coffee, and startled himself with what he saw. His future.
    Roxi crouched there on her haunches, watching him right back. Her hair, mostly pulled back, aside from the few wisps which curled around her face, gentled her appearance. Soft. Alluring. Heart-stopping. She was all of that and more to him.
    His shaft pulsed when he skimmed her lower lip with his thumb and she nipped it with her teeth. The blaze in her stare told him she, too, was more than aware of the increasing sexual draw between them.
    It was just as strong as it had been the previous night. He lowered his gaze and stared at the rest of her. She’d pushed up the sleeves on her shirt and the way she sat manipulated her jeans tight over her thighs and—he knew—her firm ass.
    Lust pounded through him. He longed to lift her and impale her on his cock. Her back against the wall, head tossing as she screamed his name. Right here. Right now.
    “Come on, Marine, we have a bathroom to fix.”
    He moved his hand around to the back of her neck and pressed, encouraging her to shift closer. She followed his silent directive without hesitation. He lightly licked along the edges of her lips before capturing her mouth with his own. Light